The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 created the new Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant. This program provides up to $4,000 per year in grants for graduate and undergraduate students who intend to teach full-time in high-need subject areas for at least four years, at schools that serve students from low-income families.

Undergraduate study: up to $4,000 per year for first baccalaureate, to a maximum of $16,000

Post-baccalaureate study: up to $4,000 per year for first post-baccalaureate teacher certification program, up to remaining balance of undergraduate maximum

Graduate study: up to $4,000 per year for a Master's degree, to a maximum of $8,000

If you fail to complete the 4-year teaching obligation within 8 years of completing or ceasing your program of study, you will have to repay the grant with interest.

Be fully admitted to the Pittsburg State University (PSU) College of Education.

Be enrolled in a program of study designated as TEACH Grant-eligible. Eligible programs are those that prepare a student to teach in a high-need area. For example, a bachelor's program with a math education major could qualify for a student who intends to be a math teacher. See high-need field section below for majors specific to PSU.

Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve at https://teach-ats.ed.gov/ats/index.actionand respond to requests by the U.S. Department of Education confirming your continuing intention to meet the teaching obligation.

For undergraduate programs, meet the following academic achievement requirement:

Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) through the most recent payment period on your college coursework to receive a grant for each subsequent term.

For graduate programs, one of the following academic standards:

Have an undergraduate cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) to receive a grant in the first term; or

Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) through the most recent term in the Master's degree program for subsequent payments; or

Be a current teacher or be a retiree from another occupation with expertise in a high-need field, enrolled in a Master's degree program; or

Be a former teacher pursuing an alternative route to certification within a Master's degree program.

Each year you receive a TEACH Grant, you must complete TEACH Grant counseling; and you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve that will be available electronically on a Department of Education Web site. The TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve specifies the conditions under which the grant will be awarded, the teaching service requirements, and includes an acknowledgment by you that you understand that if you do not meet the teaching service requirements, you must repay the grant as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were first disbursed.

To avoid repaying the TEACH Grant with interest you must be a highly-qualified, full-time teacher in a high-need subject area for at least four years at a school serving low-income students. You must complete the four years of teaching within eight years of finishing, or ceasing enrollment, in the program for which you received the grant. You incur a four-year teaching obligation for each educational program for which you received TEACH Grant funds, although you may work off multiple four-year obligations simultaneously under certain circumstances. Specific definitions of these terms are included below.

You must meet the state's definition of a full time teacher and spend the majority of your time teaching one of the high-need subject areas. Elementary teachers who teach many subjects may not be able to fulfill their service agreement.

Other teacher shortage areas documented as high-need by the Federal government, a State government, or a local education agency, approved by the U.S. Department of Education, and listed in the Department of Education's Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.html) at the time you begin your teaching service.

Pittsburg State University considers the following programs to be TEACH Grant eligible as high-need subject areas:

Undergraduate teaching programs in English as Second Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics, Modern Language, Special Education; and

Graduate Programs in English as Second Language (ESOL), Special Education, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics (secondary teaching), Physics, Reading Specialist, or Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT).

Schools serving low-income students include elementary or secondary schools listed in theDepartment of Education's Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits at https://www.tcli.ed.gov/CBSWebApp/tcli/TCLIPubSchoolSearch.jsp. A school must be listed at the time the service obligation begins.

You must respond promptly to any requests for information or documentation from the U.S. Department of Education, even if they seem repetitive. These requests will be sent to you while you are still in school, as well as once you are out of school. You will be asked regularly to confirm that you either still intend to teach or that you are teaching as required. You must provide documentation to the U.S. Department of Education at the end of each year of teaching.

If you temporarily cease enrollment in your program of study or if you encounter situations that affect your ability to begin or continue teaching, you will need to stay in touch with the U.S. Department of Education to avoid your grants being converted to loans before you are able to complete your teaching obligation.

Failure to complete the teaching obligation, respond to requests for information, or properly document your teaching service will cause the TEACH Grant to be permanently converted to a loan with interest. Once a grant is converted to a loan it cannot be converted back to a grant.